Page 33 - LEIBY

2 Chapter 4 33

concealing it from curious eyes.

“With my heart pounding, I knocked on the door. Natasha
herself opened it and let me in. ‘Where’s the baby, Rav
Wiedenfeld’s granddaughter?’ I asked immediately, watching
her intently to gauge her reaction.

“Natasha played irritably with the string of beads that she held
in her hands. ‘What’s it to you?’ she asked coldly. ‘Why do you
want to know?’

“’She is my niece, and we are the lone survivors of our family,’
I explained. ‘I’ve just come back from the forest, and all of our
relatives have been murdered. Only she and I are left.’

“’You are no relative of hers!’ Natasha retorted hotly. She knew
all of Rav Wiedenfeld’s extended family, having served as
midwife in all of their births, and remembered them well. ‘But
even so, I’ll tell you the truth, because I see that you are a Jew
and I know that Chana would have wanted her daughter to
grow up as a Jew just as she did.’

“’Chana came to my house in the middle of the night. She
was weak and in agony, but she ignored her own pain and
struggled like a lioness to save her daughter. She begged me
to do everything I could to help her, and a few hours later
her daughter was born, hale and healthy. With superhuman
strength, Chana got up and left my house, leaving her precious
treasure in my care. I was left with a tiny baby in the middle of
the night and I had no idea what to do. Under the German rule,
sheltering a Jew was a crime carrying the death penalty. There
was no way the baby could stay in my home. I wrapped her up
in layers of blankets, placed her in a knapsack, and took her to
a house on the next street, where I knew lived a couple who
had no children.Their name… Oh, I’ve forgotten their name…’
Natasha cast me an assessing glance.

“’Remember it immediately,’ I commanded. ‘I have nothing to
lose in my life, but there’s a lot I intend to earn.’

“’Of course, now I remember, they were called Walshewitz,’